


take her home, please?

by WiseBlondeHunter



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Halloween, Pining, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Underage Drinking, there's not really a happy ending for this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 01:43:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12570916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WiseBlondeHunter/pseuds/WiseBlondeHunter
Summary: "Steve, are you okay?" he asked tentatively, shoving his hands in his pockets.“Take her home,” he said without looking up.“What?”“Just take her home, Byers. Please. I can’t-” Jonathan had an urge to tell him that he wasn’t alone, that he’d cried over the very same girl but probably for a different reason. But it wasn’t the time or the place. He didn’t know if it would ever be the time or place.





	take her home, please?

**Author's Note:**

> this scene fucking killed me. like im seriously dead. jonathan is such a good guy and i love him so much. also steve is awesome too but hes such a complete person without nancy y'know?

Jonathan Byers hated parties. He really hated parties. Yet somehow here he was standing awkwardly with a girl in KISS makeup, trying to make conversation over the pounding music while the girl he loved danced with her boyfriend.

It was almost sad the way that Jonathan would do almost anything for Nancy if she told him to. Maybe he’d just wait until he found a good time to say hi to her and then leave. After all, he had come right? He never said he’d stay.

“Hey, you alright?” His gaze snapped back to Samantha who was peering at him curiously. Despite the drink in her hand she seemed sober.

“Um… yeah, I’m fine.”

_ Who knows? You might even like meet someone. _

Jonathan tried to get back into the conversation he was having with Samantha but it was hard to focus on her while also keeping an eye on Nancy. He really was a stalker, wasn’t he?

Throughout their conversation he learned that Samantha was a grade below him, was a huge fan of KISS, and her dad worked at the D.O.E. Any response he gave was awkward and stilted no matter how hard he tried. That didn’t deter her from talking to him though. He appreciated it.

_ “Ohhh!”  _ The cry of the crowd over by the drinks caught his attention. Both him and Samantha turned, Samantha letting out a sympathetic sigh.

“Poor girl. That’s why I never wear white.” Nancy and Steve were staring at each other and Nancy was covered in whatever she had been drinking. She threw down the cup and stormed off towards a side hall, stumbling noticeably. He was ready to bolt after her but Steve did that for him.

A small part of him tried to rationalize that it was just because she’d disappeared into the Upside Down that one time but the rest of him knew that he was head over heels for her. “So photography’s your thing, right? You on the lookout for a new model?” Samantha asked before chugging the rest of her drink.

“Oh, uh, no. Sorry.” While she looked disappointed, she just shrugged.

“I’m gonna get another drink. You wanna come?” Jonathan shrugged and nodded. He didn’t feel like losing the only other person he even remotely knew. Samantha filled up two cups with some nondescript red liquid and held one out to him. He had a feeling that even if he did know what was in it he would still say no. Samantha shrugged before taking alternating sips from both cups.

Jonathan had just started to settle into this little bubble that he and Samantha had created and thought  _ Maybe this isn’t so bad  _ when Steve crashed into him. He jerked back while Steve kept going, eventually heading out the front door. Nancy wasn’t with him. With a hurried apology, he bolted in the direction they had gone.

He checked three doors that all opened on dark rooms before finding the right one. Nancy stood at the sink, swaying as she tried to wipe at the stain on her dress. “Nancy, are you okay?” he asked.

“Jonathan! You came, you really came!” Nancy said, her pout melting into a smile. She reached out probably to try and give him a hug but she stumbled into him instead. She said something else but with her face mashed into his jacket he couldn’t hear much. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back.

“What happened?” That pout was back in a flash.

“Steve spilled this all over me an-and I just wanted to drink but we killed Barb and it’s all bullshit. It’s just all bullshit!” Jonathan stared at her in confusion. Barb was her friend that died but… what? Nancy resumed wiping at the stain only now she was swaying a lot more than she had before. Jonathan’s heart sank at the thought that she didn’t have an outlet for these feelings and the only way to get them out was while she was drunk.

“I think you need to get home. I bet Steve’s waiting at the car.”

“I don’t want to see Steve,” she snapped. Jonathan sighed but wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started guiding her out of the bathroom. If standing was a hard task for her, then walking was impossible. She insisted that she could walk on her own before crashing into the wall not once but three times.

When they finally emerged from the hallway, Samantha spotted them and hurried over. “Christ, is she okay?”

“I think her boyfriend’s waiting outside.” Samantha snaked an arm around Nancy’s waist and helped prop her up. He felt a surge of gratitude towards this girl he’d known for maybe an hour. They helped her out and over to Steve’s car. He was leaning up against the driver’s side, looking down. “Hey, hold on,” Jonathan said. Samantha nodded and helped Nancy lean against another car.

As Jonathan got closer, he saw the Steve was crying. He was obviously trying very hard not to but it was happening all the same. What the hell did Nancy say? “Steve, are you okay?” he asked tentatively, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Take her home,” he said without looking up.

“What?”

“Just take her home, Byers. Please. I can’t-” Steve broke off and inhaled deeply. Jonathan had an urge to tell him that he wasn’t alone, that he’d cried over the very same girl but probably for a different reason. But it wasn’t the time or the place. He didn’t know if it would ever be the time or place.

“Okay.” Jonathan walked back to the other side of the car to see Nancy bent over and Samantha stroking her hair.

“She threw up.”

“Only so I wouldn’t in the car, you… you snitch,” Nancy slurred. Samantha chuckled dryly. Maybe if Nancy wasn’t hammered then her and Samantha would’ve really gotten along.

“Are we getting her in or what?”

“My car,” Jonathan said, pointing to where he parked. Samantha’s dark eyes flicked to Steve to Nancy and back again. She somehow understood without being told. That must’ve been a nice ability to have.

They hauled Nancy over to his car and got her buckled in. “Thanks. I really appreciate… everything, I guess.”

“No problem. You’re a good guy, Jonathan.”

“What?” Samantha raised an eyebrow and gestured back to where Nancy was playing with the black ribbon around her throat.

“Not everyone would take a wasted girl home even if they were in love with her or whatever.”

“I’m not-” Samantha shook her head and chuckled. She patted him on the shoulder as she started back towards the house.

“See you around,” she said before walking away. Jonathan stared at her retreating figure for a moment. He didn’t think that taking someone home while they were drunk was that big of a chivalrous act; it was just the right thing to do even if it wasn’t Nancy. If Samantha was drunk then he’d drive her home without hesitation too.

He got in the car and was surprised at the fact that he could smell the alcohol on Nancy. She must’ve had more than he thought.

“Thanks for driving me home. You’re the best,” Nancy sighed. She reached forwards and started fiddling with the radio. “Oh my god, I love this song!” she cried before cranking it so loud that it almost hurt his ears. She rolled down her window and stuck her head out.

“Nancy, get back in,” Jonathan said, grabbing onto her arm with one hand while keeping the other one on the wheel. She obliged and fell back into her seat with a giggle. The song kept playing while Nancy half shouted, half mumbled the words and sometimes they weren’t even the correct words.

When the speed limit increased and the car sped up, Nancy giggled and stuck her arm out of the window. Jonathan wished that he could share in her joy or that he could laugh and sing along with her, carefree and light. But he wanted to do it sober. He wanted her to be free with him and remember it.

As they pulled up to the Wheeler residence, he turned down the music and she slumped down in her seat, having tired herself out. “How are you feeling?” he asked as he unbuckled her seatbelt. Nancy just mumbled something. Jonathan nodded and knelt down to help her out. One of her arms went around his neck in an effort to lift herself up.

They hobbled forwards maybe five steps before Nancy’s legs gave out underneath her. “Oh, god, okay,” Jonathan groaned out as she went down.

“‘M sorry,” she mumbled.

“No, it’s fine.” Jonathan hauled her back up again, more stable this time. Her breath tickled his neck and somehow smelled of whatever sickly sweet alcohol she’d been drinking. 

The house was quiet when they went inside; her parents must’ve been at a party of their own. Nancy could barely walk let alone tackle the stairs so it was mainly up to Jonathan to help her up. Although he’d never gone into Nancy’s room through the conventional entrance, her room obviously wasn’t the one with dark blue walls and a bunk bed.

Jonathan placed his hands on her back to support her as she flopped onto the bed. Her eyes closed and she sighed discontentedly as though her bed were somehow uncomfortable. A few stray pieces of hair had fallen onto her face and were fluttering with every breath. Jonathan’s heart skipped a beat as he gazed down at her. She was one of the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen.

But she was also drunk and going to sleep with boots on was not going to be a fun experience. Jonathan worked her boots off and set them neatly next to her bed. He pulled up her comforter and paused when Nancy gripped his arm with surprising strength for being so drunk. “Jonathan?” she asked. He paused, waiting for her to say something, anything. But her eyes just fluttered shut and didn’t reopen. She was asleep. His heart had sunk to his feet as he finished pulling her comforter up and over her.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and he walked back to the door. He wanted so badly to crawl into bed with her and hold her close and just be with her. With one last look back, he turned off the light and closed the door.

_ Good night, Nancy,  _ he thought as he walked back to his car. The night seemed so much colder and darker than it had when she was by his side. The stereo was playing some melancholy song that Nancy would’ve loved. He let it wash over him as he left the lights of the Wheeler residence behind him.


End file.
